Deputy Hamilton Mayor Donal Smith urged the Ombudsman to investigate the two recent administrations, and also said the City is concerned that the Ombudsman may be acting outside her remit and they have retained legal counsel.

A statement from the Ombudsman said, “Allegations brought to her office include lack of transparency, inadequate governance and lack of public consultation.”

Speaking this afternoon, Deputy Mayor Smith said, “We the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council and members, of course, welcome the long overdue investigation of the Corporation of Hamilton.

“However, we urge the Ombudsman to, in her purported systemic investigation, reach as far back to at least the last two recent administrations in order to get some perspective on where things are today.

“Of particular interest to her in the inquiry of the last administration should be the existence of a trust by the name of the Democratic Trust and all land assets which, amongst other matters, held taxpayer funds for the questionable purposes of defending itself legally against the previous government initiative to amend the Municipalities Act, 1923.

“The past Mayor should be extremely helpful in this regard in the interests of transparency and clarification. These anomalies and others have engaged the bulk of this present elected Mayor and Council’s time in its own efforts to right the maladministration and unaccountability of the past and to put in line-management structures and best business practices that it found wanting upon its arrival some eight months ago.”

Deputy Mayor Smith added, “There is a clear distinction between the overall policy and supervisory functions of the Mayor and Council and the day-to-day administration and management of the Corporation of Hamilton.

“It is in the latter department that we suggest that the Ombudsman ‘shine her lamp of scrutiny’. It is clear that the Ombudsman is proceeding on prior purloined documentation and information spirited away from the Corporation of Hamilton by some malcontent.

“In closing, let us say that we do have some very serious concerns about the conduct of the current investigation and the manner in which the Ombudsman has publicized it to date. We are concerned that the Ombudsman may be acting outside of the parameters of her remit and to that end we have retained legal counsel to address those concerns.

“Though the investigation must go on, it must not do so if its intent or by-product is to undermine the authority of this Mayor and Council or impugn or malign, inadvertently or otherwise, the character or professional competencies of same. This Council will not tolerate such action.

“Lastly, we the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and/or Council members will not, during the course of this investigation, entertain any questions nor make any comments in respect thereof. Please direct same to our legal representatives. We have a city to administer.”

This is the same administration which recently handed over the entirety of the Hamilton waterfront to a consortium of developers without the slightest degree of public consultation or transparency. And as for Mr Smith, can he not recognise his own blatant conflict of interest?

It is high time for an investigation. From the tone of this statement, it would appear that some are very concerned about what will be coming out in the wash.

Im confused, wasn’t /isn’t Mr Smith involved in the Par-la-Ville Park Hotel Project? What happened to that project! Wasn’t there something in the daily just weeks after this group took over saying they were going to break ground in a matter of weeks? Did they forget about that and shift gears in place of the waterfront project?

I think the Deputy Mayor was quite correct to ask for the Ombudsman to investigate the two recent administrations. I have no doubt it was the former Mayor that asked for the investigation in the first instance. I should not be the only person in Bermuda who is sick and tired of these “requested investigations”.

In my opinion, it’s time for all administrations (Corporation of Hamilton, Corporation of St. George’s, BLDC, WEDCO, and the Bermuda Government (from 1963 – 2012 )to be investigated.

Didnt she say 1963 – 2012?? Unless I misread something. Does those years not cover the years the PLP where in Government?? If you are referring to the PLP as an organization, it doesn’t receive tax payer money, (Not directly at least)..

And your comment about KFC is really immature and insulting. If you want to make a point, its no need for that type of insulting, regardless of the fact that you feel that person you are insulting did the same to you. This is not a sandbox on the primary school playground.. Let’s move forward..

One thing I am going to say and its a worrying trend, and it seems to me that the majority of OBA supporters seem to have a hard time trying to be objective.. Many of the PLP supporters I talk to admit that the PLP made mistakes and need to change things going forward, and it didn’t take the defeat in the most recent election to recognize that..

Right is right and wrong is wrong. I am a PLP supporter, but I am not a blind loyalist. I have problems with many of the things done in the past by both parties and I always try to maintain a balanced approach in my posting.

Imagine if Ewart Brown had walked out of a press conference in the manner that the current Premier did a few months ago??? I can only imagine the terms that would be thrown at him, (arrogant, thinks he doesnt need to answer the people etc etc). I am no big EB supporter by the way, I am only trying to make a point. for instance, him paying $1,000,000 to bring Beyonce here to perform for a few hours was simply crazy, (for lack of a better word).

It seems everyone has so much emotion (comprised of hatred, depression, etc), that they fail to see the faults of their own side and the achievements of the opposing side.. Are we as a people not better than that????

EB on many occasions performed the political equivalent of eating a baby on stage and got away with it. PLP diehards loved it. Now you seem to find it offensive that the OBA leader ‘concluded’ a press interview when the questioning went off track and became irrelevant to the intent of the interview ? ? It was a media set-up and he refused to take the bait. That’s like comparing apples and watermelons. Self righteous at all ?

Political equivalent of eating a baby on stage,, wow that is a dramatic statement to say the least.

Self Righeous?? Did you read what I said, or did you just see the part about the current Premier walking out of a press conference? In addition, whether he had a valid reason for doing or not as you suggest, shouln’t one aspiring to be the leader of a country be able to handle himself and maintain composure in adverse circumstances?

If he felt it was a media set up as you suggest, etc, Shouldn’t he at least have the professionalism and communication skills to state that and show the country how he can defend himself when the chips are stacked against him (Again as you suggest) instead of just walking away.. There are plenty of times when I am tough situation that I would rather not deal with, but I can’t just walk away every time.

Strange, isn’t it? Whilst things were going along fine, no word about previous administrations. As soon as this one is threatened, the canaries start singing. That, and I have whiplash from the quick turnaround Family Man so rightly points out. Attack is the best form of defence, and get a good lawyer on board quick seem to be the actions of the day – something to hide, maybe? If I wasn’t before, I’m sure as hell suspicious now!

Sounds to me like someone is worried about what could be dug up…. Up until the PLP government hijacked the C of H the city ran at a profit and had significant funds to invest in the city (and no begging for pay). Maybe where all the cash went should be part of the investigation!

Seems more like you don’t have any real reasons so it must be race . I recall five men of color , two women and two white men in the last administration. If I heard correctly a trust leased the assets and then leased them back to provide a buffer if anyone Tried to just walk off or claim the assets. Slinging ignorant Veiled implications won’t make it any more than it is. If you read the last two published financial statements you would read the note on the trust. Still don’t se how this has anything to do with micromanaging justifying an excuse for a salary and not giving the government the information it wants or not being transparent or following good governance.

I remember when everyone questioned why a BLIND TRUST was in place concerning the building of the Dame Lois Browne court building. When it was revealed that a blind trust was being used and the public outrage as to who exactly was benefiting from a tax payer funded capital project, we were treated with the exact same boring argument as the poster above.

No. We know who the settlor and beneficiary of this trust is. It was done strictly to protect the ownership of the assets held by the CoH from greedy, sticky little fingers. The trust is open and fully disclosed and has been audited.

Now Patrick, go ask Spongebob if he can cover your shift while you read the audited accounts again.

Why is it not surprising that “Oh this is funny” decides to play the race card and claims that EVERYONE is saying “the black man is the crook” despite the fact that current Mayor of Hamilton is white. Has anyone alleged that those blacks in the last COH adminstration were crooks, or that the former black Mayors were crooks?!

From what I can see the major concern about the present administration is that they have conducted business under a veil of secrecy, and have committed the COH to deals such as the leasing of our waterfront without proper consultation with the tax payers, the wider public or either the former Government or the present Government, both of which have expressed serious concerns about this lease.

Before going on about “crooks” perhaps “Oh this is Funny” should remember that it is not the Police who are conducting an enquiry. It is the Ombudsman who just happens to be black and who has done a superb job in her other investigations including her excellent report on allegations of racism at King Edward Hospital.

What is very concerning is that despite initially expressing full support for the Ombudsman’s enquiry we now have someone from the COH stating “We are concerned that the Ombudsman may be acting outside of the parameters of her remit and to that end we have retained legal counsel to address those concerns.” This is not a criminal enquiry but the COH is now hiring a lawyer at the taxpayers expense? What a difference a day makes!

I hope the Ombudsmen engages the services of the Auditot General! You will be surprise to what you will find!

This is long overdue, one could see their arrogance right from the start! And they might try to put on a good face but they are surely not “THE TEAM” that they ran on, there is dissention amongst them. A little pressure and everyone will start trying to cover their own back. So

LF need be quiet on this one unless she trying to have her former Premier cousin (EB) cousin (DS) back on this.

This is the standard answer. When calls for an investigation of the past government it was “welcomed” by EB as long as they investigated previous administrations going back more years than possible. This is a tactic. If something is found they can cry foul.

While I think that a review would be a good thing I have to question how the Ombudsman has approached it. I do not believe that a single complaint would be enough to justify a Systemic review and from the comments above there is already the perception of wrong doing which I believe is in part due to the manner in which the review was announced. City hall has never been transparent, by their own admission and only recently started to hold open meetings.

why aren’t the voters in the City marching down there and demanding to see the paperwork THEY are entitled to? the VOTERS are entitled to see all the documents regarding the new (doomed) waterfront and more importantly to see the money trail of what has happened to the ASSETS OF THE TRUST that has been secretly dissolved! VOTERS of the City of Hamilton, these assets belong to YOU. Do not let these dopey byz take them from you. good day.

Since we don’t know how many complaints the Ombudsman received, we are engaged in mere speculation. What we do know is that she plans to investigate. She has no punitive powers, she can only make her findings public. Perhaps she will find enough to interest the Auditor General. Giving away the harbor front was a bad move. People are ready to be angry about anything that looks like a secret from the public when public funds and public well-being could be affected…and rightly so.

@ LaVerne, don’t get tired of investigations and calls for investigations, not yet. There’s a whole lot more we, the public, want to know.